Fender for motor-vehicles.



E.. N. lHARRIS.

l EENDEE EOE MoToE VEHICLES.'

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 1910.

' Patented Jan. 10, ,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

, s@ :f i u r 3M y R. N. HARRIS. FENDER POR MOTOR VEHICLES. APPLIOATONFILED FEB. I8, 1910.

Patented Jan. 10,1911.

2 SHEBTS-SHBET 2.

, r I un S 1HE Nonms Perses co., wAsHmawN, n. c,

RALPH N. HARRIS, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

FENDER FOR LIOTOR-VEI-IICLES.

SSLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan 10, 119ML.

Application filed February 18, 1910. Serial No. lif.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH N. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Fenders forMotor-Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a fender designed to protectthe front of vehicles from injury due to obstacles, protect the lamps,wheels, the radiator and the engine, take up the extraordinary thrustand strain which is incident to a collision, and properly7 distribute itto the parts of the vehicle that can best stand it.

A further object is to so design the body of my fender that it shallform a partial protection to pedestrians who may be struck by thefender, the fender being placed about the height of the knee, andfurnishing sufficient support to carry the person struck, in case hefalls upon the fender.

A further object is to provide a fender in which the surface presentedto the obstacle with which the motor vehicle comes in collision, shallhave sufcient gripping power to prevent slipping and side wiping, aneffect of a collision which often causes more damage than the actualimpact.

Another object is to provide a fender in which the parts are detachablefrom each other and may be readily assembled, and which may be attachedto any ordinary type of motor vehicle and distribute the thrust andstrain along the side channel irons of the vehicle chassis withoutdrilling any additional holes or removing any bolts or rivets.

Tn general terms, my improvement includes a bowed spring or likeresilient niember which is yieldable along its whole extent and which issupported in front of the automobile, this bowed spring being furtherprovided with a yielding facing piece of rubber, leather or likematerial.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and toacquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to behad to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which;Figure l is a perspective view of my improved fenderattached to theforward end of a motor vehicle; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation,partly in section, showing my fender attached to the frame of a motorvehicle; Fig. 8 is a section through the middle of my improved fender;Fig. 4L is a fragmentary section of one end of the base plate, the bowedspring co-acting therewith being shown in elevation, the buffer being insection; Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of one of the shoes orclips carried at the extremities of the base plate; Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the means for attaching the fender to the frame ofthe motor vehicle.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Referring to these figures, 2 designates a channel iron which forms thebase of my improved fender and which is adapted to extend transverselyof the car and to be attached thereto, as will be later described. Thischannel iron 2 has its flanges extending rearwardly or in the directionof the car. At the opposite ends of the channel iron 2 are provided theclips 3, these clips being U-shaped in section, open at their inner endsand closed at their' outer ends. The clips are attached to the sideflanges of the channel iron 2 by means of rivets 4, and passingtransversely through the clips and exterior to the face of the channel.iron 2 are the bolts or rivets 5 which are surrounded by rotatablesleeves or friction rollers 6.

Mounted. between the clips 3 isv a bowed spring 7, this spring beingformed precisely like the usual carriage spring and consisting ofsuperposed leaves, each leaf being shorter than the leaf immediatelybeneath it. In the construction shown, five leaves are illustrated, butit will be obvious that any number of these leaves may be used as foundmost effective in practice. Supported on the exterior face of the set ofspring leaves is the buffer piece S which is preferably made of rubberand has a rounded outer face` The buffer 8 is provided, as shown in Fig.l, with two parallel wires 9 which extend entirely through the bufferpiece S and project beyond the same and into a clip 10, this clip havinginwardly extending end portions il which clasp the leaves of the spring7 held in place by a transverse bolt or rivet 13 surrounding which is arotatable sleeve 14 which bears against the under face of the innermostleaf of the spring. It will thus be seen that while the buffer piece 8is held firmly to the face of the spring, it may shift slightly when itis deformed by impact.

Attached to the middle of the spring 7 is the clip which has two sideplates 1G, the upper ends of which are bent over to form inwardlyextending round flanges 17. These plates 16 are spaced from each otherat their upper ends by a transverse bed `plate 18 having outwardlyturned ends which engage beneath the overturned edges of the plates 16and are attached thereto by rivets 19. The buffer 8 has a widened baseor inner portion which [its beneath the inwardly eX- tending` flanges 17so that the buffer is held upon the bed plate 1G after the manner of arubber tired wheel. This permits the buffer to be removed and replacedwhenever desired. The lower portions of the plates 1G are spaced fromeach other by a transverse plate 20 through which pass the parallelrivets or bolts 21. This lower plate 2O is drilled for the reception ofthe head of a bolt 22 whose head bears against the under side of thespring 7. This bolt. at its other end extends through the channel iron2. Surrounding the bolt and also extending through the channel iron 2 isthe sleeve 23 which is screw threaded at its inner end, as at 24, and atits outer end, as at 25, this screw-threaded portion 25 extending abouthalf the length of the sleeve. Nuts 26 and 26a engage with the oppositeends of the sleeve, and a nut 29 engages with the inner end of the bolt22. The nut 26ZL rests upon the face of the channel iron, while the nut26 rests upon a transverse plate 30 which is shouldered, as at 31, tolit between the side flanges of the channel iron. It will be seen thatwith this construction the bolt 22 is movable through the channel ironand through the sleeve 23 and that the nut 29 acts as a stop limitingthe outward movement of the bolt. A spring 32 surrounds the bolt 22,resting at its inner end upon the nut 26a and at its outer end againstthe plate 20, being held in place thereon by an annular member It willbe seen from Fig. 1 that the innermost and longest leaf of the spring 7at its ends extends into and is housed by the clips 3 and that it isshiftable between the face of the channel iron 2 and the sleeves orrollers 6 so that when the spring is forced inward, the longest leaf ofthe springl will move laterally through the clips 3, thus allowing thespring to have a maximum of resilience and yet be held firmly in place.

The operation of my invention will be obvious from the foregoingdescription. Then the fender is subjected to shock, the bowed spring 7will tend to flatten out and the extremities of the spring will beforced into the clips 3, the leaves of the spring yielding upon eachother in the ordinary manner. At the same time, the middle poi tion ofthe spring will be forced inward against' the tension of the springVllhile T do not wish to limit myself to any particular means ofattaching my fender to a motor car, T preferably provide 'the channel.iron with the pairs of angle irons 33a. The base flanges 3ft of theseangle irons are formed with bolt holes whereby they may be attached tothe channel iron 2, bolts passing through slots 3G in the channel iron.The base plates 34; of the angle irons 33 extend angular-ly from a pairof spaced arms 35 which at their outer ends are formed with a slightlycurved plate 3G which is provided with the opposed bolt holes 37. Thisconstruct-ion provides a means whereby the fender may be attached to theside frame bars il() of a motor car by means of clips L11 which passover the frame bars l0 and have screw threaded ends which extend downthrough openings 37 and are there provided with nuts a2. A downwardextension of each :trame bar 110 extends through the space 13 leftbetween the arms 35a, the arms resting upon the upper face of the endmember all; of the frame bar 40 so as to be supported thereon. 1t willbe seen that this method of attachment obviates the necessity ofdrilling holes in the frame bars of the chassis, which is a practicewhich is not approved by manufacturers or those insuring automobilesagainst accident.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is z- 1. A. motorvehicle 'fender comprising a transverse supporting member, and a bowedspring mounted on said supporting member, the ends of the bowed springbearing against the supporting member and being free to move laterallythereon under pressure, the middle of the spring being supported forrearward movement.

2. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transverse supportingmember, a bowed spring clips at the ends of the supporting member, inwhich the ends of the bowed spring slidingly engage, a bolt connected tothe middle of the spring and extending through the supporting member and`movable therein, and a spring surrounding the bolt and bearing outwardagainst the middle of the bowed spring.

3. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transversely extendingchannel iron, clips carried on the extremities of the channel iron andhaving anti-friction rollers, a bowed spring having its extremitiesinserted in said clips and bea-ring against `the antifriction rollers, aclip engaging the middle of the spring, a bolt on the clip extendingrearward through the supporting member, a sleeve surrounding the boltand passing through the supporting member, means for holding the sleevein engagement with the supporting member, and a compression springsurrounding the bolt and bearing at one end against the middle of thespring and at its other end against the supporting member.

4. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transversely extendingsupporting member, a bowed spring mounted on the supporting member, theends ot said spring being tree to move laterally, and a butter ofyieldingmaterial attached to and extending along the face of the bowedspring.

5. A fender for motor vehicles, including` a transverse supportingmember, a bowed spring mounted on the face of the supporting member, theends of the spring having sliding engagement therewith, and a bufferextending along the :tace of the spring, said buffer being made ofyielding material.

G. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transverse supportingmember, a bowed spring having its ends in sliding engagement with thesupporting member, and a butler extending along the tace of the bowedspring, the ends of said buffer having sliding engagementwith thespring, the middle oi the butter being rigidly engaged therewith.

7. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transverse supporting memberhaving clips at its extremities, a bowed spring, the ends of which areengaged by said clips, a guide bolt extending from the middle of thespring through said supporting member and having sliding engagementtherewith, a butfer mounted upon the face ot' the spring, said butlerhaving longitudinally extending wires passing through it and projectingat its ends, and clips engaging said wires and also engaging beneath thespring.

8. A fender for motor vehicles, including a transversely extendingchannel iron, clips at the opposite ends of the channel iron, U-shapedin cross section and provided with transversely extending anti-frictionrollers, a bowed spring comprising a plurality of leaves, theextremities of the spring extending into said clips and beneath theanti-triction rollers, a butler, clips holding the ends of the butter tothe spring, a clip engaging the middle of the buffer and having inwardlyprojecting flanges with which the butler engages, means for attachingthe clip to said spring, a guide bolt attached to said clip andextending through the transversely extending channel iron and havingsliding engagement therewith, a nut on the bolt acting to limit theoutward movement of the bolt, and a compression spring surrounding thebolt and bearing at one end against the channel iron and at its otherend against the clip.

9. A fender for motor vehicles including a transversely extendingsupport and a bufl i i fer mounted upon the face ot the support,attaching members mounted on the support and extending rearwardtherefrom and comprising each a horizontal plate adapted to be supportedagainst the under side ot the side gti-ame bars of a chassis, clipspassing over said last named trame bars and engaging said plate, saidplate being cut away at its middle 'forward portion to receive thedownwardly extending end of the trame bar and being then bent angularlyto engage with the said transversely extending butler support.

10. ln a fender :tor motor vehicles, a transversely extending supportingmember, a bowed spring mounted on the supporting member, attachingmembers mounted on the supporting member and extending rearwardtherefrom and comprising each a horizontal plate adapted to be supportedagainst the under side of the side frame bar of a chassis, clips passingover said frame bar and engaging the plate, said plate being cut away atits forward portion to receive the downwardly extending end oli' theframe bar and being then bent angularly to engage with the transverselyextending supporting member.

11. A fender for motor vehicles including a transverse supportingmember, a bowed spring carried upon the face of the supporting member,the extremities of the bowed spring being free to move laterally uponthe tace et' the supporting member, and a bolt connected at one end tothe middle of the spring and passing rearward through the supportingmember, and freely movable therein. e

12. A fender for motor vehicles including a transversely extendingsupporting member, a bowed spring mounted on the supporting member,clips at the ends of the supporting member in which the ends of thebowed springs have sliding engagement, a bolt connected to the middle ofthe spring and extending through the supporting member andlongitudinally movable therein, and a U-shaped member engaging the outertace oic the bowed spring on each side thereof and holding the spring inengagement with the head of the bolt.

13. A fender for motor vehicles including a transverse supportingmember, a bowed spring, the ends of which are laterally movable, andbear against the face of the supporting member, a bolt freely movablethrough t-he supporting member, a butler mounted upon the tace of thespring and having laterally and outwardly projecting base flanges, aclip engaging the spring and engaged by said bolt, said clip includingside-plates located on each side of the spring, the outer edges of theside-plates being inwardly turned to engage the flanges on the baseportion of the butler.

14. The Combination with a fender for motor vehicles including atransversely eX- tending support, and a buffer mounted upon the :tace ofthe support, attaching members adapted to be supported against the underside of the side-frame bars of a chassis7 the forward end of theattaching member being provided with spaced arms having angular endsbearing against the transverse support and attached thereto, and Clipspasslo ing over each chassis frame bar and engaging said members.

In testimony whereof I aiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

RALPH N. HAR-R153. [L s] Witnesses:

HERBERT M. MYERS, MAUDE RECOB.

